Ha! I've got your 'culture of corruption' right here.

When last we left Congressthing Jefferson, it was being eulogized by Washington's other newspaper, a sure sign of its political demise. Now even the CINO Nancy Pilates won't return its calls. That's what happens when the feds find 90k in your freezer after they videotaped you taking 100k from an informant.

New Orleans Times-Picayune: Jefferson says he won't resign key post

Rep. William Jefferson, D-New Orleans, said Tuesday he would not yield to pressure from top House Democrats to leave his seat on the House Ways and Means Committee while he deals with a federal bribery investigation.

"I will not give up a committee assignment that is so vital to New Orleans at this crucial time for any uncertain, long-term political strategy," Jefferson said in a statement.

Jefferson said he was responding to reports that senior Democrats are considering asking him to give up his position on the committee. "If asked, I would respectfully decline," he said.

According to several sources, House Democratic Leader Nancy Pelosi met Tuesday with top congressional Democrats and came to the consensus that Jefferson should give up the position on the House tax-writing committee while the probe continues.

Democrats had hoped to make the 2006 midterm elections in part a referendum on what they call the Republican culture of corruption, but those efforts are being short-circuited by the Justice Department's investigation of what prosecutors say was a four-year scheme to funnel bribes to Jefferson and his family in exchange for his help in landing communications contracts for a small Kentucky company.

Jefferson has not been charged and has maintained his innocence.

Pelosi met behind closed doors Tuesday night with members of the Congressional Black Caucus, some of whose members have come to Jefferson's defense and suggested that he, like any other American, is entitled to a presumption of innocence.

Pelosi's office said late Tuesday that she would have no comment on Jefferson's situation.

Aides to Pelosi pointed out that she moved aggressively when questions were raised earlier this year about whether Rep. Alan Mollohan, D-W.Va., had steered federal spending to nonprofits in his district that are controlled by people with whom he has close financial ties. She asked Mollohan to step down as senior Democrat on the House Ethics Committee, and he did so.

Jefferson staffers, however, pointed out that Mollohan was able to continue his position on the House Appropriations Committee, where the questionable actions in an ethics complaint pertained.

Jefferson and Pelosi have had a strained relationship since she won the Democratic leadership post in 2002 and chose a fellow Californian over Jefferson to run the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee.

Meanwhile, Drudge reports the Repansycans are backing the criminal:

Hastert tells President Bush FBI raid was unconstitutional...

Demands FBI Return Documents...